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The Traditional Egg Offering to St. Clare (Monasterio de Sta. Clara in Quezon City)

Jaz, an events coordinator in the corporate world, keeps a checklist of things to do in every event she's planning. Most noticeable in her list is the offering of eggs to St. Clare at the Monasterio de Santa Clara to help pray for good weather.

The Monasterio de Sta. Clara, a popular monastery originally located in Intramuros before the war, is where nuns of the Order of Saint Clare of Assisi (known as the Poor Clares) lead a life of prayer and strictly follow the vow of poverty. The cream-colored church is where by tradition, people come with offerings (usually eggs) and ask the saintly nuns to pray for good weather.

devotees to St. Clare leave their prayer requests hoping for solutions to their from simple problems to miracles

Regarding the traditional offering of eggs, Philippine National Artist for Literature, Alejandro Roces, in his book Fiesta, theorized that Sta. Clara's name has something to do with it for the word clara, in the language of Castille, means “fair weather” (particularly during rainy days) and also pertains to the "puti ng itlog" (albumen or egg whites) in Spanish. It translates to offer claras (egg whites) to Sta. Clara to pray for a clara (fair weather) on a particular day.

The offering of a dozen eggs (pag-aalay ng itlog), according to people following the tradition, represents the twelve months of the year though most people who come there wish for only a day or two without rain (if it were without rain in a year, expect a famine)

a furtively taken picture of St. Clare Chapel (this is one of those days when small point-and-shoot cameras are better than bulky DSLRs when misinformed guards are after you while allowing P&S cams)

In Rizal's second novel, El Filibusterismo, it's in Monasterio de Santa Clara where Maria Clara entered to become a nun, and died before Simoun was able to rescue her.

St. Clare is the same patron of Obando, Bulacan where the fertility rite performe by childless women while singing "Santa Clarang pinong-pino, Ang pangako ko ay ganito, Pagdating ko sa Obando, Sasayaw ako ng pandanggo." However, St. Clare's life story narrated that she died a virgin and therefore childless. Ironic, isn't it?

Tips:

enterprising people sell eggs wrapped in colorful plastic as offering. letters and prayer requests can be written outside the monastery.
Taking pictures inside the monastery is NOT allowed, but permitted at the chapel

Order of St. Clare (OSC) a.k.a. Monasterio de Santa Clara
C-5 Katipunan Ave., 1108 Quezon City
Tel: +63.2.913.5159
(part of Diocese of Cubao)
How to get to Monasterio de Sta. Clara:

Fastest way to commute there is via LRT 2 Katipunan Station where the monastery is a mere walking distance. You my take jeepneys in Cubao going to Antipolo, Cogeo, or Montalban to take you there also. There are jeepneys in UP that ply the Katipunan route also.

Directions from Makati: take C5 road and drive straight until you reach the Katipunan flyover where you take ilalim where the monastery is located.

From Quezon Memorial Circle, you may pass by University of the Philippines (UP) then right on Katipunan (where Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) is), turn right on Aurora Blvd

We had a patient before at lourdes hospital.She was a nun at st. Claire's and had the opportunity to asked her about the offered eggs. Aside from the fact that the eggs are consumed by the nuns, the offered eggs are also distributed to different seminaries and parishes for feeding programs. It was a big fallacy that the offered eggs are used as beauty regiment by the nuns.

it was a heavenly experiences when i was there and pray for all the needy people ...but the lord show me my destiny of being a good wife and a mother too...they said this my vocation of being a good person...

ive been married for 8yrs but i didnt get pregnant.....my cousin told me to offer eggs to st. claire and make a wish, me and my husband planning to go there within this week. anyone can answer me kung may sked ba ng pag offer ng egg?

Oh loving St. Clare I am asking for your guidance, giving us stregth and knowledge to pass the NLE board examination this weekend may 30 & 31. As early as today I will CLAIM IT! I will PASS THE BOARD! In Jesus name! St. Clare Amen